Oberlin couple turns to renewable energy

Carol Harper - The Morning Journal Kathy and Dr. Jack Secrist, right, acted on global warming in a personal way by agreeing to install 21 solar panels on a garage roof of their Oberlin home as part of a local initiative, Oberlin Peoples Energy Coalition, and a Lorain County Solar Cooperative through OH SUN, or Ohio Solar United Neighborhoods, on the Web at www.ohsun.org. Adam Brown, left, logistics manager for Third Sun Solar, 762 West Union St., Suite C, Athens, and Ryan Walling, solar consultant for Third Sun Solar, are working with the couple to install the panels this summer. So far 30 families are signing up for solar panels through a special offer. Others interested must sign up by June 15.

An Oberlin dermatologist and his wife opted to act on environmental concerns rather than settling for lively discussions.

This summer, Dr. Jack and Kathy Secrist plan to add an array of solar panels to the roof of their home to create half of their electricity needs.

“We may not (live long enough to) get the payback, but we think it’s an environmentally conscious thing to do,” Secrist said. “We’re feeling we’re doing something in a positive way.”

The Secrists joined an Oberlin group led by Carl McDaniel, who is chair of Oberlin Peoples Energy Coalition, which formed in fall of 2015 and teamed with Ohio SUN, which stands for Ohio Solar United Neighborhoods (OH SUN), at www.ohsun.org.

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“We like the idea of a cooperative, because as a group we felt more protected,” Kathy Secrist said.

Through OH SUN, OPEC provided information to the area and now 30 to 50 families are in the process of adding solar energy generation to their homes, McDaniel said.

The Secrists recently began considering ways to save energy.

“We moved here about four years ago,” Jack Secrist said. “We knew very little about renewable energy. The people across the street built an energy efficient house that piqued our interest. We didn’t know what to do other than start a grassroots effort. It is contagious.”

Kathy Secrist said she recently bought a hybrid car.

The average home in Oberlin uses 8,000 to 10,000 kilowatt hours a year, McDaniel said.

After a meeting in February, the Secrists dug out old electric bills and added up the monthly kilowatt hours used to find they used 9,500 KWH last year.

“That night I was ready to sign up,” Kathy Secrist said.

The OPEC group vetted many companies and chose Third Sun Solar in Athens, and created an agreement for service and pricing.

For families who sign up before June 15, special discounts negotiated with the group will apply, McDaniel said.

Because costs of generating solar energy are decreasing as well, and federal incentives are available, the cost dropped from $7 per installed watt in 2010 when McDaniel installed his first solar panels, to $2 per installed watt, he said.

Ryan Walling, solar consultant with Third Sun Solar, said the smallest system generates 2 KWH per year and costs about $5,000 with all of the incentives and discounts.

A family could take out a home equity loan to pay for the system, and a state of Ohio program reimburses up to three percent of the interest, Walling said.

The company also builds systems for businesses ranging from 20 KW to 250 KW, he said.

“As a homeowner, we signed up,” Jack Secrist said. “We communicated by email several times. They looked at our home on Google Earth to see how the sun hits our house.

“Then they came out to look at it from a more technical point of view. They crawled in our attic, and found a way of getting wiring down into the home. This is going to be professionally done. They made us feel more comfortable.”

The plan recommends a solar array of 21 panels for a garage roof that would generate about 5,500 KWH, and would save from $600 to $650 a year in electricity alone, Kathy Secrist said.

At a 25 percent tax bracket, the Secrist return on investment could increase to $800 a year, McDaniel said.

He predicted the family will watch the electricity meter turn backward during the summer, because the sun generates more energy than the household uses.